The SNP Government has been accused by a local MP of failing to treat people with eating disorders quickly enough.
Angus Conservative Kirstene Hair has criticised a national target of a maximum 18-weeks from referral to start of treatment for sufferers of conditions including anorexia and bulimia after research showed the impact of delays on sufferers and their families.
Ms Hair spoke to the Commons in support of charity BEAT’s work , with Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Jeremy Hunt telling the MP he “absolutely” believed Scotland should share the NHS England target of 95% of patients being seen within one week of referral.
“Anorexia and bulimia are complex mental health illnesses which many people don’t realise can be inherited,” said Ms Hair.
“They can occur at any age and anorexia is the most deadly psychiatric diagnosis. They are life-threatening conditions and it would not be acceptable to wait 18 weeks for broken bones, so it should be the same for mental health treatment to begin.”
The MP said the closure of facilities such as the Mulberry mental health unit would “only increase the risk of failing to treat emergency cases” – a claim challenged by NHS Tayside.
“The Scottish Government must revisit its eating disorder strategy as part of the wider mental health picture in Scotland,” the MP added.
Evidence suggests treatment for anorexia nervosa, in particular, becomes more difficult.
Ms Hair’s plea follows questioning by the Scottish Conservatives that showed the number of Scottish patients treated for eating disorders has increased by two-thirds in the space of a decade.
Health boards in Tayside, Glasgow, Grampian, and the Highlands were among those to have record numbers in 2015/16.
According the Scottish Government statistics, 726 people were treated in 2015/16, the most recent year for which data is available, a 65% rise from 436 in 2005/06.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Our ten- year Mental Health Strategy, backed by investment of £150 million over the next five years, sets out clearly how we can improve early intervention, and ensure better access to services.
“That includes specific actions to support people with eating disorders.
“Where a child or young person is assessed as needing to access a service urgently, we expect them to be seen as a priority.”
NHS Tayside said, “The current waiting time for outpatient referrals to the NHS Tayside Eating Disorder Service is eight weeks.
“NHS Tayside Eating Disorders Service provides specialist, multidisciplinary, outpatient assessment and treatment to adults aged 18 to 64 suffering from clinical eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. Patients aged below 18 and above 64 are managed within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Older People’s services respectively.
“Where a patient’s eating disorder is acutely life threatening, such that they cannot be safely managed in an outpatient setting, referral will be made to the specialist ten-bedded Eden Unit in Aberdeen, which NHS Tayside has access to as part of the North of Scotland Managed Clinical Network for Eating Disorders.
“Patients suffering from clinical eating disorders who require inpatient care would not be admitted to Mulberry Unit as this is a General Adult Psychiatry ward,” the spokesperson added.
